It's that wonderful time of year again...

On the 21st of November, I hosted Bunco Night for the MomsLikeMe group that I am a part of down here. We had 14 ladies show up with all the fixin's to accompany Randy's wonderful deep-fried turkey that he made for us...before leaving and taking the girls to a movie. It was great seeing some of the moms I've already met...and also having the chance to meet some I've talked with through the site but had not met in person yet.

We enjoyed a wonderfully quiet Thanksgiving this year. Randy did most of the cooking...as he usually does (it's his favorite holiday)...and I helped out where I could. A woman who works for him, but whom he has known since his active duty days (she was one of his troops) came and spent the day with us, bringing her little, adorable Chihuahua, Simone. Yes, I did say 'adorable'...she is a very socialized little thing and just about stole our hearts...until she climbed up on me on the couch and kept on going until she reached the top of my head and played in my hair!!! Too funny! The food was wonderful, we all ate way too much...ok, except for Emily and Grace! Grace ended up waking up in the middle of the night vomiting...not a great way to end the holiday, but the poor thing was so sick! She managed to get over it...for about 18 hours and then it started up again. Whatever bit her got her good, but thankfully no one else caught it.

I got up bright and early on Black Friday and braved Walmart. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I also stayed away from the pallets that lined every walkway where people had obviously been camping out for quite a while! The employees were even handing out 'restroom break passes' so people could leave, stretch their legs, go potty, whatever! And security was TIGHT! There were at least 10 security guards at every entrance...no repeats of the stampede that occurred last year (although this is a 24-hour Walmart!). I found a few good deals...pajamas that the girls desperately need and some more Christmas decorations.

I bought the girls each several pairs of pajamas but told them they came with a catch...they have to give one pair away to the Pajama Program which provides pajamas to foster children. So they each picked a pair that we will give to my friend Faith, who runs the local chapter.

I'm counting down the days until we leave for Gatlinburg...17 days and we hit the road!

Randy asked me to put up the tree this year and some decorations even though we won't be here for the holidays. I didn't agree with him at first, especially since I'm the one who has to drag the boxes in from the garage, put up the tree, put lights on the tree, hang the ornaments, and put out everything else. But the more I've done, the more I'm getting into it...and starting to feel the spirit of Christmas! Right now our house looks like Christmas threw up all over it...and I LOVE IT!!! I even managed to wrap a few presents tonight to put under the tree. I also found a bulb to fit the ceramic tree my grandmother made that used to sit in the front room of her house...made me really start to miss her. The nativity scenes are out, the hand-me-down decorations from my mom are out...everything is coming together nicely. Now I just need to get outside and put away the Halloween/Fall decorations that are still outside my front door!

I'm still working out at the gym several days a week...I'm starting to see some benefits in my legs and backside but definitely need to do more ab work!

Next week several ladies from MomsLikeMe are coming over and our local CBS affiliate is sending a cameraman to film a segment for their Holiday Toy Test. Each one of us (that signed up) received a toy to 'test' with our child and then we get to tell about it. It should be a lot of fun!!!

Well, it's late and I need to head to bed. Until next time...